title: [The infection status of Leptospira in rodents on the Heixiazi island of Heilongjiang province, China,in 2011].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the infection status of Leptospira in rodents on Heixiazi island Heilongjiang province in 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 356 rodents were captured by night trap on the Heixiazi island from April to October 2011. The kidney tissue samples were collected by asepsis operation and the genomic DNA were extracted from them. Leptospira strains were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) amplification of the 482 bp 23 S rDNA gene. Fifteen PCR products selected by the month were purified and sequenced by the methods of Sanger dideoxy, the sequences then compared with other Leptospira strains in Genebank, and phylogenetic analyses were drafted by software Mega 4.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 356 rodents, the dominant species were Clethrionomys rutilus (39.3%, 140/356) and Apodemus agrarius (36.0%, 128/356). The infection rate of Leptospira was 11.0%, with 39 rodent samples detected positive. All the rodent species were infected except for Rattus norvegicus. The infection rate was 9.4% (12/128) in Apodemus agrarius, 12.9%(18/140) in Clethrionomys rutilus, 10.8%(7/65) in Microtus fortis Buchner. No significant difference was found between the infection rate and the species of rodents by chi square test(χ(2) = 1.92, P > 0.05). Among months, the infection rate was 5.6% (4/72) in May, 8.8% (5/57) in June, 12.8% (5/39) in July, 9.8% (5/51) in August, 33.3% (11/33) in September, 22.5% (9/40) in October,but no infection in April. There was significant difference in infection in different months (χ(2) = 32.92, P < 0.05). All the Leptospira in rodents on the Heixiazi island were in the same phylogenetic branch with a high similarity of 97.1%-99.6%, close with the Australia strain U90865 by the similarity above 96.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Leptospira is probably prevalent in rodents on the Heixiazi island, and the phylogene of the strains were similar. The infection rate in rodents was significantly different in months but not in hosts.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology,Shenyang Agriculture University,Shenyang 110161,China.
authors.forename: Zhen-dong
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sha-sha
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Tian-yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ying-qun
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Xiao-hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Bao-liang
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D007919:Leptospira / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051189:Murinae / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats